When Distant Ripples Reach Home

Would that not be a far more meaningful measure of human progress?

Yet another concern comes to my mind.

Suppose international conflicts or disruptions in energy supplies become so severe that governments are compelled to restrict travel, reduce transport, or temporarily close institutions.

Once again, we might hear the familiar instructions:

“Work from home.”

“Attend classes online.”

“Reduce unnecessary movement.”

But can everyone really work from home?

How can an agricultural labourer cultivate a field from a computer screen? How can a construction worker build a house while sitting in a bedroom? How can a driver, a shopkeeper, a factory worker, or a hospital attendant perform their duties entirely online?

For millions of people, work means being physically present—in fields, factories, shops, hospitals, construction sites, and on the roads.

For them, the suspension of normal activity does not simply mean a change in working arrangements.

It may mean the sudden disappearance of their income.

And when income stops while the prices of essential commodities continue to rise, the burden on an ordinary household becomes almost unbearable.

The crisis then extends far beyond economics.

It enters the emotional life of the family, bringing uncertainty, anxiety, and fear about the future.

And what about our children?

A school is not merely a place where textbooks are taught and examinations are conducted.

It is a place where children form friendships, play together, interact with teachers, discover their abilities, learn cooperation, and gradually develop their personalities.

Their education involves much more than academic instruction.

Physical activity, social interaction, emotional development, curiosity, and the everyday experiences of growing up are equally important.

Online education can certainly provide valuable support when circumstances demand it. But no mobile phone or computer screen can completely replace the physical, emotional, and social environment that a school offers.

If schools remain closed for prolonged periods, opportunities for outdoor activities disappear, workplaces shut down, and ordinary social life is interrupted, would we not risk returning to those difficult days of isolation and uncertainty that the world has already experienced?

The very possibility troubles me.

And the more I think about these questions, the more I realise that the solution to humanity's problems cannot lie merely in reducing petrol prices or bringing an individual conflict to an end.

Those measures may provide immediate relief, but the deeper causes of insecurity, inequality, conflict, and exploitation must also be addressed.